During the long nights of the Great Depression, the only entertainment was often a battery-powered Atwater-Kent or similar radio.  When dusk came and such major stations as WHAS Louisville boosted their power, families would often tune in to live studio music.  One of the top attractions was the father-and-son team of Asher Sizemore and Jimmie….

Halloween Night 1946 The Silver Barn was very popular musical hangout for the local bands and singers. Built originally by local coal operator Fon Johnson. The Silver Barn was located just West of the Intersection of South Mayo Trail (we know today as U.S. 23) and Kentucky state route 611, just a few hundred feet…

1924

Located in Elkhorn City KY WECL, FM 103.1, signed on the air for the first time on the morning of September 28, 1974.  With studios on Main Street in Elkhorn City, Kentucky, the station operated under Mountain Interstate Broadcasting Co., owned by Allen Epling, a science teacher at Elkhorn City High School, and his father…

Located in McCarr Kentucky June 9, 1950. Three States Bcstg. Co. seeks 1360 kc, 1 kw-D. Estimated construction cost $18,791.02. Principals in Three States include: Fred A. Staples, pastor Striker Bible Church, president and general manager, 25%; Fred L. Morningstar, assistant director Southern Highland Evangel Inc., Biggs, Ky., vice president, 25%; Joseph P. Pickering, owner 25%…

WSLI Radio was part of the Eastern Kentucky Radio Corporation (Group). The original incorporators were: W. J. Ward, Earl M. Tyson, Thomas J. Holland, W. W. Huffman, and E. Bruce Walters. Incorporated April 19, 1946.

Music Kentucky Slim – https://youtu.be/fcfbSAs1piA Kentucky Rockabilly KY SLIM – CADILLAC CAR – D&B Records – https://youtu.be/w3TNG4Oa_6Q

Artist Biography by Paul Roberts Owen ‘Snake’ Chapman was born in 1919 near Canada in north-eastern Kentucky, and the music presented on these two CDs, recorded between 1995 and 1998, reflects a lifetime’s immersion in the rich and creative Southern fiddle tradition.  His personal story is almost an archetype for the experience of the Kentucky…

Hobo Jack Adkins was born on June 10th, 1922, in Regina KY. He died on June 2nd, 1977. Artist Biography by Eugene Chadbourne Hobo Jack Adkins was given his stage name by a radio station manager during an era when radio was closely involved with newly developing strains of old-time, country, and bluegrass music. It places him…

Artist Biography by Eugene Chadbourne The short and quite cute — they didn’t call him Cuddles Newsome for nothing, after all — mandolinist from Kentucky was part of the early history of bluegrass in the ’50s. He was a member of the important 7 Flat Mountain Boys in the mid-’50s, a group under the rare leadership of its bassist…

Bio Molly O’Day was born on July 9, 1923 as Lois Laverne Williamson. She was raised by a coal mining family in rural Pike County Kentucky. As a child, she was influenced by singers Patsy Montana, Lulu Belle Wiseman, Lily May Ledford, and Texas Ruby Owens. O’Day began singing and playing guitar in a band…

By 1935 the stock market crash of Black Tuesday had affected every person, family, business, and institution in America.  Lives had been lost, families torn apart, and businesses ruined.  Depression was the operative word, both financially and emotionally.  But if a person had the spare change they could, for a precious few minutes, escape reality. …

In 1966, a group of friends formed a musical band and called themselves The Stepin Stones.  They were all from Pike County, Kentucky.  Original members were Martin “Mark” Slone on Vocals, Lead Guitar, Harmonica and Piano; Tommy Chaffin on Saxophone and Organ; Freddie Gilpin on Drums and Vocals; Don Bevins on Vocals and Organ; and Scott Fleming…